James Cook, born in 1728, was one of the most celebrated navigators/explorers of his time. His voyages in the Royal Navy to the eastern and western seaboards of North America, the North and South Pacific, the Arctic, and the Antarctic brought a new understanding of the geography and of the peoples, flora, and fauna of the lands he discovered. Cook produced maps of unprecedented accuracy; revolutionized the seafarers' diet, all but eliminating scurvy; and exploded the myth of the Great Southern Continent imagined by earlier geographers and scientists. Hough consulted numerous archives and traveled in Cook's wake from Alaska to Tasmania, visiting many of the Pacific islands.